KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia --- The Malaysian government has announced that it will continue to operate 10 of its 16 MiG-29N interceptors until 2015, reversing plans to decommission the aircraft by the end of 2010. A plan to replace the MiG-29s with a new fighter aircraft has been delayed by the economic downturn.

However, maintaining the aircraft will impose burdens of its own since the aircraft’s engines need to be overhauled every year and the weaponry for the fighter jets has reached the end of its life span.

The 10th Five-Year Malaysian Plan (2011-2015) is expected to propose procurement and development funding of MYR7 billion ($2.07 billion) for the entire defense and security sector, with approximately MYR5 billion being allocated for defense proper.Nearly half of this funding will be allocated to replenish war stocks (missiles, bombs, and ammunition), with relatively little money being left for new procurement efforts.At least 30 percent of the available money would be reserved for purchases from the national defense industry.